JOHANNESBURG - Bob Bradley, still coaching after the final whistle, wanted his guys pulled away from the referee. And more than anyone, he wanted his son yanked away, because he knew what might happen after that sometimes angry young man was deprived a World Cup victory.

"Michael!" Bob Bradley was screaming. "Get Michael!"

Soon enough - just barely - Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and the other bewildered, fuming American players were convinced to let this moment pass. An electric comeback, the greatest in U.S. soccer history, had been short-circuited a bit, and the Americans walked off Friday with a 2-2 draw with Slovenia instead of their deserved 3-2 victory.

It was an overzealous call by Koman Coulibaly of Mali, born on the Fourth of July, though it may have been considerably less controversial had he explained himself. Maurice Edu's potentially winning goal off Jozy Altidore's header assist in the 85th minute was nullified by ... what?

Nobody knew for certain. The official FIFA play-by-play identified Edu as the culprit. Another theory fingered Carlos Bocanegra on a grabbing foul. But if you watch the replay and break it down frame by frame, it appears that Clint Dempsey shoved midfielder Andraz Kirm at the start of Landon Donovan's free kick to create space. And Dempsey does this directly in front of Coulibaly, who begins to raise his hand before the kick.

Coulibaly was not obliged to tell anyone if that was, in fact, the case. This is soccer, an imprecise sport in which referees keep time on the field and a hand ball by France can eliminate Ireland from South Africa.

There are always fouls in front of the net, by both sides. A replay challenge, if it existed, would have done the Americans no good. Once the call was made, whistled before Edu's shot, the damage was done.

In this case, fortunately, the result was not nearly fatal. The U.S., sitting second in Group C, can advance to the next round with a victory on Wednesday over Algeria. If the U.S. and Algeria tie, the Americans can advance with an England loss to Slovenia, or with an England-Slovenia draw in which the English fail to erase the two-goal scoring edge the Americans currently own.

Such permutations did little to salve the American outrage, however.

"I don't know how they stole a goal from us," Donovan said as he walked off the field. "It's (Coulibaly's) first World Cup. Maybe he got caught up in the moment, but you can't take away a goal in the World Cup."

You want explanations? You're not getting explanations. Or, as Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. Soccer, said about a possible inquiry, "To what end? We'll ask. They're not required to tell us."

The problem isn't just with Coulibaly, of course. It is systemic, and complicated. FIFA, in its efforts to democratize the sport, has reached deep into the ranks of officials from all over the world when it might just bring the very best referees from the top leagues of Europe.

You can argue for the latter approach, but then this is supposed to be an international affair and it is very nearly political suicide to impose all-European rule over Africans, Asians and South Americans.

South Africa, of all places, is not the place to do such a thing. Coulibaly has had his share of controversies, like most referees, yet he was deemed competent enough to officiate the final at the African Cup of Nations, the continent's biggest tournament.

The Americans, convinced they were jobbed, were greatly responsible for their own frustration. How many times, exactly, must they stagger at the start of these matches, only to be awakened by dire circumstance?

Bad things happen to teams that fall behind often enough, far enough. The back line lost shape early, gave up way too much space on those first two goals. Upfield, Robbie Findley and Francisco Torres were utterly lost, and are now unlikely to reappear at this World Cup.

Even the stars of the previous England match were imperfect. Tim Howard was screened by Oguchi Onyewu on the first goal, a beauty by Valter Birsa in the 13th minute. The second goal was a numbers game, caused by late track-backers and miscalculations from Onyewu and Jay DeMerit.

"Beggars can't be choosers," Howard said about the hole his team had dug and its desperate comeback. "This was a fair result."

A fair result brought about with a quick whistle, and perhaps a sloppy shove. Dempsey has been reckless here at times, even risking a red card Friday in the very first minute with an elbow to the temple of Zlatan Ljubijankic.

Slovenia, the tiniest nation at this World Cup, was granted a stay of execution against the largest. The U.S. players, each in his own way, dealt with it.

Howard shrugged. Donovan appeared personally insulted. Michael Bradley screamed at a reporter over an innocuous question.